This Woman Is Trying to Crowdfund Her Way Out of Prison Time

She's "just using the resources that are available" to her.

Back in March, the Daily News reports, one Renata Shamrakova pled guilty to grand larceny and evidence tampering. She was accused of stealing nearly a million dollars from hedge funder Todd Meister, ex-husband of Nikki Hilton (sister to Paris). Supposedly, she was working as his assistant and used his credit cards to buy “clothes, furniture, international trips and jewelry,” though she claimed she was his lover.

Now she’s got to come up with $821,000 to pay him back, or else she faces jail time. The popularity of Orange is the New Black doesn’t seem to have inspired a fad for going behind bars. So she’s trying to raise the money on the crowdfunding site Go Fund Me, with a campaign questionably named “Restitution for Renata.” Uh, isn’t the restitution for Mr. Meister?

Ms. Shamrakova is aware you might not wholly approve of her request, but just hear her out:

“Some people reading this may think that it is not the best way to raise restitution funds, but I am hopeful that someone will see past the media blitz and conclude that I deserve a second chance to restart my life while there is still an opportunity to do so. I am prepared for the backlash and even the opinions of those who think very little of me but am hoping for a rare kind of person to see the potential and be able to provide monetary help.”

She told the Daily News that, “I don’t expect people to feel bad for me. I’m just using the resources that are available to me.” To be fair, that makes her no more despicably than many abysmally ill-conceived Kickstarter campaigns.

She needs $425,000 by December 20, then she’s got until March 2015 to scrounge up the rest. So far, the campaign has raised $175.

Betabeat is now the newly launched Innovation section of the Observer. All your favorite features and columns—as well as exciting new areas of tech coverage—can now be found at Observer.com/Innovation.

Don't miss the latest and best writing on technology and the future of business innovation. Add the Innovation section to your RSS feed and follow the Observer on Twitter and Facebook.